An Islamic Cleric Gaining Spiritual Power By Sucking His Almajiris

ILIYA GARBA, MinnaPolice in Niger state have arrested a 52-year-old Islamic teacher, Mallam Usman Sani, for allegedly harassing 26 Almajiri boys sexually.According to the police, the suspect was arrested at Erena village of Shiroro local government area of the state, where he doubles as an Islamic cleric and a spiritualist for some dignitaries. Before the arrest, it was gathered that Mallam Sani lost his two wives on the same day in a mysterious circumstance since 1979 but had refused to marry any other woman since then. Also, the proclaimed Islamic scholar was reported to have migrated from a nearby village and settled in Erena for the past seven years with parents from different parts of the country bringing their wards under his tutorship and has been receiving complaint of sexual molestation but always dismisses it due to his Islamic knowledge. Narrating the children’s ordeal, permanent secretary, Niger State Ministry of Poverty and Value Orientation, Alhaji Abdulhameed Khalid Kuta, who coordinated the arrest, lamented that the action of the Islamic scholar was an embarrassment to the state and that he must face the law. The head of the police team that arrested the cleric, Bartholomew Ali, said the suspect was alleged to have been sexually molesting his Almajiris for over three years without any one suspecting his pervasive sexual acts with the boys. It was further gathered that the Islamic cleric, who recruits his wards from Mariga in Niger state and Gusau in Zamfara state, was said to be in the habit of visiting the Almajiris under his care at night and forcing them to masturbate after which he collects their sperms. Speaking to Saturday Champion in Hausa language at the State Police Command Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Mallam Sani, admitted that he visited the older boys in their quarters at night and sucked their penis and when they ejaculated, he collected their sperms in a bottle which he put in the sun to dry. He said after this, he mixed the dry sperms with some herbs, which he personally used in bathing and occasionally selling to willing customers who consult him for spiritual help. When asked why he was into such an occultic practice, he calmly replied that it was meant to attract divine favour and enhance his spiritual powers, adding that he had no intention to harm the children. "I only drop the sperm concoction in water and bath with it to attract favour and not to kill any one," the suspect said.Sani insisted that he was not a cultist but a genuine Islamic cleric, whose activities can be verified in the community as many Almajiris have acquired Islamic knowledge through him over the years. "That I did what is wrong does not remove the fact that I am genuine as a teacher. Anyone can say the right thing and do another thing", he added.Among the victims of the 52-year-old man were 14-year-old Lawule Idris and his 15-year-old brother, Lawule Hassan Abubakar Hassan, who confronted the suspect while parents who had given out their children to Mallam Sani to study under the Islamic cleric besieged the command to retrieve their children. Sani, who boasted that he got inspiration from dreams to perform his spiritual exercise, however, pleaded for forgiveness even as the police vowed to investigate the matter thoroughly to ensure that he is prosecuted.